Charity with sole to match a giver’s heart
NINE-year-old Dario Gouveia has vowed to not stop collecting shoes — from fancy heels to spunky sneakers — until he reaches a million pairs.
Dario doesn’t have a shoe fetish — the Grade 4 Alberton schoolboy has taken on the massive task of collecting the shoes for the less fortunate.
He started his Sole2Sole initiative five months ago after he handed his own pair of school shoes, which he had outgrown, to a shoeless boy begging with his mother on a street corner.
Since then Dario has amassed more than 8 000 pairs — 1 300 of which he donated to Knysna fire victims last week.
His efforts have inspired children from as far afield as New Zealand to start their own campaigns.
Dario was initially sceptical about taking donations of sparkly heels, but he has since realised their worth: giving matric girls a chance to add an extra touch of glamour to their matric farewell ensembles.
“I saw this barefoot kid at the side of the road kicking stones. He touched me. My mom and I rushed home and gave him a pair of shoes that no longer fitted me. He was very, very happy,” said Dario.
Dario wrote a letter to his friends at school, appealing for donations of shoes.
“My goal at the time was 1 000. People opened their hearts and started donating. In a few months, I have collected 8 200 pairs of shoes. We collect the shoes from collection points at shops and malls and we drop them off at orphanages and shelters.
“One of my school friends emigrated to New Zealand last year. She heard about what I’m doing and started her own campaign there and she’s collected over 2 000 pairs, which she donated to the Salvation Army.
“I love doing good for others. I will continue until I reach a million pairs of shoes.”
His mother, Zita, said Dario’s campaign was contained in Gauteng for now because of logistics.
“People are so generous, everybody has been amazing. It’s been completely through social media that Dario’s initiative has gone viral,” she said.
His latest project has been Knysna.
“Dario saw the devastation of the Knysna fire on TV and asked me to get shoes there. There was a company in Randburg appealing to everybody to donate whatever they could. We DURBAN human resources manager Kirsten James trusted Ford with her most precious cargo, her threeyear-old son, believing that, having taken her 1.6-litre Kuga to her dealership for two fire-related safety checks, one before and one after a recall of that model, the car was safe to drive. But two months later it caught fire at a toll plaza in KwaZuluNatal, burning out minutes after she got her son out of the child seat he’d been strapped in. James wasn’t alone. Four 1.6litre Kugas which were modified as part of the carmaker’s midJanuary safety recall have since caught fire, but Ford insists their recall, to correct a “systemic failure”, has been effective. James disagrees. She had been on her way to fetch her husband from the airport on April 22 with her son Cash in the back, when smoke emerged, first from the exhaust, then from under the bonnet. “I was actually at the booth, paying, when I saw smoke coming from the bonnet, STEPPING UP: Nine-year-old Dario Gouveia with some of the 8 200 shoes he has collected for the needy packed the shoes for two to three hours and got it to them.
“We sent another 300 pairs this week.
“Initially Dario didn’t want any high heels [but] there’s so many matric charities that are looking for dresses and pretty shoes to match for girls who can’t afford them.
“In the beginning we looked for places where we could drop off the shoes, but now charities and homes are contacting us,” said Zita.
Lisa de Sousa, head of the Bienvenu Shelter in Bertrams, Johannesburg — an organisation that cares for displaced women and their children — said Dario had donated bags of shoes.
“When I heard about Dario’s heartfelt initiative — a young boy wanting to make a difference by giving back — I was really touched.
“He’s a special little guy, a role model for many. I requested shoes from Sole2Sole for the little ones and their mommies.
“Dario arrived a few days later with bags full of children’s shoes. It was such a beautiful gesture.
“Our kids come with nothing. Seeing their little faces light up with joy from having shoes is priceless. That’s what Dario has brought to us,” said De Sousa.
I saw this barefoot kid at the side of the road kicking stones. He touched me